Resilience of the Water Sector

Resilience is a strong emerging theme within the water sector.  From long term water resource availability and water quality impacts of droughts, to the need for resilience against disruptive events with little or no warning such as floods and earthquakes, these events not only disrupt water sector infrastructure and operations, they can also affect other infrastructure that a reliable water sector depends on. This includes electrical power supplies, telecommunications, and transportation as well as disruption to the supply chain and workforce. The effects of such events can be long lasting and far-reaching, impacting customers, the environment, and business performance. Ultimately, resilience is a significant business risk management as well as an infrastructure planning issue. This joint conference has explored ways in which the sector in its broadest terms is developing resilient systems, assets, and operations so that business continuity risk is well managed in the face of adverse conditions.